tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post8160774828445214280..comments2014-05-09T13:25:02.936-05:00Comments on The Atheist Experience™: God's forgiveness = self-forgiveness, part deuxMartinnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-35285686425369268192007-07-11T11:47:00.000-05:002007-07-11T11:47:00.000-05:00This hits on your point: It's about forgiving your...<I>This hits on your point: It's about forgiving yourself. You either will or won't.</I><BR/><BR/>I'm glad you brought this distinction up, Tracie, as I'm certain there will be some readers who miss the point. I never imply in my article that no Christian ever feels remorseful about doing bad things. My point was that, for those people who enjoy the way Christianity allows them to classify themselves as morally superioir to others, while adopting a "do as I say, not as I do" approach to life (we call them <I>hypocrites</I>), then their religion provides an easy tool for such a moral quick fix. That tool is the imaginary being God himself. God is made in man's own image, and he'll do whatever is required of him.<BR/><BR/>For someone like Vitters, he gets to pontificate about the alleged evils of gay marriage, wag his finger pompously at others for their sexual peccadilloes, but, when he's caught out on his own, instead of any sincere remorse (you know, "Hey, I guess I'm a raving hypocritical asshole, aren't I?"), he can just say, "Hey look, it's no big deal, 'God' forgave me already (ie: I forgave myself), so let's blow over this and treat it like a non-issue to keep me out of the newspapers, please, thank you."Martin Wagnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-33254657026852362892007-07-11T09:11:00.000-05:002007-07-11T09:11:00.000-05:00That's the idea with Xianity, though. If you since...That's the idea with Xianity, though. If you sincerely ask for forgiveness, and you're a Xian, you get it.<BR/><BR/>Although I've seen some Xians post that real Xians are "transformed" and no longer sin, I don't think that's the majority.<BR/><BR/>I will say, though, that I've met Xians who have continued to hammer themselves for years (and years) for past "sins"--who have asked god to forgive them. This hits on your point: It's about forgiving yourself. You either will or won't.<BR/><BR/>I also don't hold someone's past against them. I've made mistakes and lived through them. I don't guilt myself about them. I acknowledge them, do what I can to correct them, learn from them, and move on. And I don't begrudge anyone the same consideration.<BR/><BR/>But I do agree that it's misplaced "forgiveness" to credit god with something one has clearly done for oneself.traciehnoreply@blogger.com